Short Summary

A Jordanian officer- arrested on Sunday night (19 November) while alleged to be passing explosives to an accomplice - was deported on Tuesday.

Description

A Jordanian officer- arrested on Sunday night (19 November) while alleged to be passing explosives to an accomplice - was deported on Tuesday.

Lieutenant Hisham Lutfi Youssef, an assistant to the Jordanian military attache in Beirut, had been declared "persona non grata."
A government spokesman said Lieutenant Youssef was accompanied out of Lebanon by a Jordanian mission assigned to escort him to Amman.

Lieutenant Youssef was arrested outside a seafront hotel. Police said he was trying to hand explosives and a timing device over to another man. He was slightly injured during the arrest, during which he was also said to be carrying a pistol. The Jordanian Embassy denied any knowledge of his activities.

Police sources said the explosives were to be planted at the ???atah information office in Beirut. They said the explosives were of a similar type to those used in several bomb attacks earlier this year, in which targets included Al Nahar newspapers, a cathedral and a pharmacy.